It's About The Provenance: Head Of Strategy Koreel Lahiri Decodes One Identity Of NDTV

The evolution of NDTV 24x7 to NDTV is more than a change in nomenclature: it represents a fundamental shift in how media organisations must perceive themselves. When the channel was launched, the suffix meant something because round-the-clock television news was a novelty. However, a few decades on, device and form factor are no longer limitations. Audiences are not defining their experiences by the device but by the authenticity of what they are consuming. And that authenticity is what defines us.

For much of the past decade, conversations about the future of media have been framed as a series of substitutions. Digital would replace television, streaming would replace linear broadcasting, mobile would replace the large screen and social media would replace the homepage. India is turning out to be considerably more complicated than that. Add to that mix the fact that Print is yet to die despite many such prognostications in the past, and individual creators are gaining traction as pockets of trust in a sea of information. 

The evidence of this complexity lies in the fact that even as Digital Media crossed Rs 1 trillion in revenues in 2025, the Connected TV wave keeps television strongly in fray. According to a report by WPP & The Trade Desk, CTV has a reach of 207 million across 62-65 million households. This growth is largely coming from smaller towns, suggesting increasing mass adoption. It also signals huge incidence of dual-screen behaviour, especially among GenZ, with both CTV and mobile devices being central to it.

All of this matters profoundly because the old vocabulary created by media companies themselves is fast disappearing.

Is somebody watching a YouTube interview on a 65-inch television watching television or consuming digital video? Is somebody watching the same live news stream through an app on a Connected TV a television viewer, an OTT viewer or a digital user? Traditionally, media companies tend to classify these as television audiences, digital audiences, social audiences, and video audiences because that is how our organisations, measurement systems and revenue teams have historically been structured. But, the consumer does not make those distinctions.

We at NDTV consciously recognise the fact that the same consumer inhabits several screens during the course of a day. Someone might discover a breaking story through WhatsApp, follow it on television, search for more information on Google, watch an interview on YouTube and encounter subsequent developments through Instagram. During a major election, war, sporting event, or financial announcement, that journey could happen several times within a few hours.

They are simply choosing NDTV, or for that matter any brand that they trust, at different moments and on different screens. What matters is the content, the experience, and crucially, who it comes from.

There is evidence of this approach working in our favour in some sense. The Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2026 places NDTV first among the news brands it measures in India for weekly reach both offline and online. What's interesting is not the rank, but the consistency on both offline & online.

Therefore, if consumers increasingly recognise and choose NDTV across platforms and form factors, why should we continue defining the brand through the lens of one particular medium?

In fact in today's world of fragmented distribution and near Google-zero, it is the brand and its promise that stands out. At first glance it seems that algorithmic interference will keep making media brands less relevant. But I think the opposite will happen. Because the hard question facing all of us is: "Who do I trust to tell me what actually matters?" Therefore, fragmented distribution will reinforce the need for a coherent brand identity. In such an environment, provenance is our most valuable currency. It is our unassailable army of journalistic talent that supports each and every piece of information.

The name NDTV is much more than a logo in the corner of the screen. It is a shorthand for this provenance, editorial standards, accountability, and trust. The One identity of NDTV also means the same promise expressed through all our products, whether it is a television bulletin, a podcast, an article, a reel, or our interactions with our community. Economically and commercially, that trust travels through a whole range of opportunities around memberships, events, specialist information products, expert marketplaces, affiliate commerce and other forms of utility that not only monetises attention but also utility.

Perhaps this is ultimately the most important reason for thinking about NDTV as one identity. Platforms will change, formats will evolve and devices that seem dominant today may become irrelevant surprisingly quickly. NDTV will continue to describe who we are and our relationship with our community of audiences, when it really matters.

(The article was originally published in Adgully)

(Koreel Lahiri is the Head of Strategy & Innovation at NDTV)